Technology

Nano Crystal² Formula (NCF).

Incorporated into selected Furutech products, NCF features a special crystalline material that has two ‘active’ properties. First, it generates negative ions that eliminate static. Second, it converts thermal energy into far infrared. Furutech combines this remarkable material with nano-sized ceramic particles and carbon powder for their additional ‘piezoelectric effect’ damping properties. The resulting Nano Crystal² Formula is the ultimate electrical and mechanical damping material. Created by Furutech, it is found exclusively in Furutech products.
No other manufacturer goes to the expense and effort that Furutech does to develop and produce high-end audio accessories and cables, and NCF is a cumulative result of 30 years of research and development of Pure Transmission high-end audio grade products. The very audible improvement to sound playback offered by this unique material is winning praise and support, not only from Furutech’s loyal following of “Pure Transmission” audio enthusiasts but also from numerous makers of audiophile products worldwide that incorporate NCF components in their products.

The word crystal, when applied to sound reproduction, is a truly desirable thing. When you describe a sound system as “crystal-clear,” for instance, you’re referring to its ability to offer an open and transparent window into the original recording event. You might also use this phrase to suggest a lower noise floor, less distortion, or anything else that gets you, the listener, closer to the music you love. Furutech has produced decades of unrivaled innovation within the audio industry. We have enabled listeners all over the world to get closer to their favorite music by making it sound as crystal-clear as possible. We have accomplished this enviable feat through careful research based upon solid scientific principles, and exhaustive listening tests to confirm those results.
For example, we have pioneered the use of many revolutionary technologies in our legendary line of Furutech products—the Floating Field Damper, the Two-Stage Cryogenic and Demagnetization Process and many, many others. Now we’re set to transform the audio industry with crystals.
These aren’t “magic” crystals, mind you, but a new crystallized material that actively generates negative ions to eliminate static and converts thermal energy into far infrared. There is nothing mysterious about the way these crystals work—quite simply, they improve audio performance in a very specific and measurable way.
The story behind these crystals is simple as well. Years ago, a research discovered that these crystals affected sound quality in a certain way—a very positive way. After learning about this research, Furutech decided to test these crystals under strict conditions. After experimenting with countless forms and composites, the Furutech team found a proprietary use for this material that would excel in audio applications.
Furutech achieved this by combining these crystals with nano-sized ceramic particles and carbon powder to create a piezoelectric effect, which results in even better damping properties. This didn’t happen overnight—this material is the culmination of 30 years of steady and consistent research at Furutech.

We dubbed this material NCF, which stands for Nano Crystal² Formula.
It works so well, in fact, that many other audio companies in Japan are now working with Furutech to implement NCF into their products. Now it is time to introduce the NCF technology to the rest of the world.

Audio commentators report:

David W. Robinson | PFO Issue 89 on GTX-D NCF… the sound became more transparent, and seemed to have less hash in the playback. …there was no gainsaying the audio outcome. And this was regardless of audio format.

Marcin Olszewski of Sound Rebels on FI-50 NCF… the first impression… with the new plugs almost everything improved. The sound spectrum extremes were extended, what allowed the system to play a step further to the bottom and top end. In addition, at first you could have the impression, that the whole is presented a tad thinner, but this is just an illusion that lasts until true bass kicks in. You just need to play things like “Hallucination Engine” Material, or the true system-killer “Khmer” Nils Petter Molvaer. The genesis of those illusive observations becomes clear to us after a few minutes listening to such music – it is not that the sound got thinner, but all kinds of dust, distortion and all other parasitic artifacts were removed from it, which were influencing the audible frequencies. Without this “coat”, which was flowing to our ears unwanted, we can hear much more of the information hidden in the source, and we can enter the structure of the recording much deeper and better.

Recording studio trptk.com tests NCF – Netherlands July 2017

(TRPTK was founded in 2014 by audio engineer Brendon Heinst and music producer Luuk Meijssen, as a movement against the degradation of sound quality and emotional impact of recordings. The only reason why music still exists as an art form, is because there are artists out there who want to keep telling their stories, regardless of what it will take to do so. They just want to be heard! And we want to be there to pass their message through)

TRPTK did recordings with test power cords powering the Sonodore power supply and preamplifier, one test with a cable fitted with Furutech’s FI-50 NCF and FI-E50 NCF connectors, and then one with a regular generic power cord. The recordings of a piece called Luminous by composer Maurizio Bignone played by cellist Maya Fridman – the cello was chosen as it is such an extremely rich and broad-band sound

All cabling, both power and audio, were by Furutech. In my personal opinion, there is no other choice for cabling if you’re only happy with the absolute best. Being very finicky about my sound, there’s only one cable manufacturer I fully trust.
– Brendon Heinst

…I have to say, after this test, I am astounded by the quality of this cable. You clearly hear there’s so much more space in the recording, such an openness I’ve never experienced before.

Is your power connector a genuine Furutech connector?

At Furutech, we use a number of specialist factories to make the various parts for our high-performance power connectors. These parts require equally specialized materials, hand selected by our Furutech design team—right down to the screws. Furutech engineers then assemble the connectors in our quality controlled factory where each individual part is inspected and checked according to precise Furutech Pure Transmission guidelines.

Furutech has developed exceptionally strong relationships with each of our trusted part suppliers, partners who must maintain the same extreme level of quality as our legendary design team. Only through these strict standards can we ensure that our power connectors are, in fact, the “ultimate” audiophile connectors.

No manufacturer goes to the expense and effort that Furutech does to develop and produce power connectors for the world’s most discerning listeners. There are no exceptions and there are no imitations—only Furutech materials and Furutech design can offer Furutech performance.

So, once again, ask yourself if your power connector is a genuine Furutech connector. Here’s a simple way to do that: a Furutech power connector will always have our highly regarded and innovative Floating Field Damper™, an earth/ground jumper System with US Patent No.: 6,669,491/ European Patent (EP1445837). You can explore this technology in more detail by watching the following

By opening your connector and correctly identifying the Furutech Floating Field Damper, you can ensure that your connector is a genuine Furutech power connector.

First, check for the small copper tabs at the screw holes that are highlighted in yellow above. In version “B” above you can see the Floating Field Damper bridge through the clear plastic cover. In version “A” you can only see the small tabs at in the holes.

Why is the Floating Field Damper technology so important to power connector performance? Current flowing through a cable and its connector creates magnetic and electrostatic fields that can build and collapse 60 times per second in 120VAC systems. The magnetic field induces current flow and electrical potential, even in small parts like the screws holding the connector halves together. (These have to be made from metal for tight clamping.) The current flow in these small parts creates multiple “floating” magnetic fields that interfere with the cable/connector’s larger magnetic field, resulting in noise and distortion.

The Furutech Floating Field Damper completely solves “the biggest problem you never realized you had” by star grounding the parts in which floating magnetic fields are created by the flow of current. Our precisely engineered, sprung metal bridge in the connector body ties the various parts together and shunts the potential to the ground, preventing the flow of noise and significantly reducing distortion for an ultra-clean and stable power transfer.

If your connector has the Floating Field Damper, you can feel confident that you have the finest connector available on the market. Quite simply, no manufacturer of low-cost imitation connectors will go to the effort and expense of incorporating this patented mechanism into their power connection products.

Your Furutech power connector will also include some or all of the following materials and technologies:

OFC grade copper

Nonmagnetic stainless steel damped parts clamps and housings

Piezo (carbon and nanoceramic) damping material

Precision-machined cable clamping mechanisms

Alpha Process treated metal parts (deep cryo & demagnetizing)

The Furutech Floating Field Damper system

Finally, your connector should also have direct rhodium or gold plating, creating a secret plating method that has taken the Furutech design team years to perfect. Only Furutech can offer these innovative technologies, which result in incredible performance from every single one of our power connectors.

Carbon powder exhibits thermal-conductive characteristics that interact with the charged ferro-ceramic particles converting their energy into heat that’s conducted away and released from the surface of the connector body!

These carefully chosen and tested “active” materials mechanically and electrically damp connectors, receptacles and other products as they “interconvert” thermal, mechanical, and electrical energy for the finest Furutech Pure Transmission signal
imaginable.

Furutech’s Two-Stage Cryogenic and Demagnetization

Using cutting-edge technology and materials, Furutech developed a low-temperature two-stage process that significantly improves every facet of audio and video performance. The treatment begins during the manufacturing
process with a deep, conditioning cryogenic freeze of all metal parts. Using high-end refrigerants — liquid N2 or He
– Furutech achieves temperatures of between -196 to -250C. The treated parts actually change their molecular structure at these extremes of temperature relieving internal stress. The molecules bond together more tightly and the overall structure becomes more stable. This improves electrical conductivity and so power and signal transfer.

Step two in the Alpha Process exposes these same parts to the patented Ring Demagnetization treatment. Ordinary high power magnets used for this purpose often increase magnetization effects; they leave some areas more magnetized than others. Just like a CD spinning over a fixed magnet; when the CD stops the area above the magnet is still exposed to the magnetic field causing audible effects. This patented process uses controlled attenuation to completely eliminate magnetization for immediately more vivid and colorful improvements. Ring Demagnetization further enhances conductivity of all treated materials. The patent holder for this treatment is Sekiguchi Machine Sale Co., Ltd. in Japan; Furutech are licensed users of the technology.

ALL metallic parts used in Furutech products go through the Alpha Process treatment to keep all connectors, conductors, and metal parts in a perfect stress-free, stable and highly conductive state.

The Final Result The 2-Step Alpha Cryogenic and Demagnetizing Process works in tandem with other design-in features to create the most optimized AC power transfer possible. Furutech’s total awareness and devotion to detail results in a greater sense of power, dynamics, and resolution, with cleaner, blacker backgrounds and a larger, more stable soundstage, vivid tonal colors and deeper extension at both ends of the frequency range.

Furutech’s Axial Locking System

A Demonstration of the Effectiveness of Furutech’s Patent-Pending Axial Locking System in Damping Resonance and Vibration

The e-TP609 Power Distributor features Furutech’s new Axial Locking system. A hand-torqued locking screw anchors each duplex receptacle to the milled-from-solid aluminum chassis. The duplex outlets are surrounded by a 3M damping material isolating each duplex.

【Axial Locking(アーキシャル ロッキング)システムの構造と効果】

The results show Furutech’s patent-pending Axial Locking System – hand-torqued to optimum values during assembly – reduces noise, oscillation and vibration by a factor of almost ten times!

The Axial Locking System is only one of several advanced materials design techniques that Furutech engineers work into their components. That includes EMI-absorbing 3M Formula GC-303, a material bonded to the bottom plate of each power distribution and filtering unit. GC-303 absorbs radiated EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) generated by the internal fittings of the unit. We finish that off with a set of mounting spikes. It’s all good science and engineering, and the end result is… magic.

Test methodology

Room Temp. 16℃・Humidity: 35%

E-TP609 is placed on its side with the top plate perpendicular to the apparatus

The striking instrument hits the duplex from 0.20 meters

- Yields 0.0731m ・ velocity = 1.2ms

Measurement Apparatus: FFT analyzer

Measurement Frequency: 10kHz range

Sampling Range Frequency: 5600Hz

Measurement time intervals 0.0390625ms

Block size: 1024

Length of measure date ~ 40ms

The Furutech Floating Field Damper

Noise and vibration are primary causes of signal transmission distortion, and controlling them is vital to achieving stable, minimal-loss AC power transfer. Most audiophiles and video enthusiasts assume plugging a power cord into a wall receptacle is the point at which electrical potentials or disturbances are generated; everyone has created a small spark plugging in a device that was On rather than Off. But research has shown that there are many elements in a connector capable of creating stray electrical potentials such as cable clamps, screws and other magnetic parts.

Magnetic Floating Field Damping

Current flowing through a cable and its connector creates magnetic (and electrostatic) fields around them, building and collapsing 60 times per second in 120VAC systems. This magnetic field induces current flow–electrical potential–in small parts like the screws holding the connector shell together which have to be metal for tight clamping. The current flow in these small parts actually creates “floating” magnetic fields around them, and they interfere with the cable/connector’s larger surrounding magnetic field resulting in noise and distortion.

The Furutech Floating Field Damper solves the biggest problem you never realized you had by star grounding the metal parts in which floating magnetic fields are induced by current flow. As represented in the images below, a precisely engineered, sprung metal bridge in the connector body ties the various metal parts together and shunts whatever electrical potentials generated to ground. This significantly lowers noise by reducing distortion for ultra-clean and stable power transfer.

Innovations Award-Winning

FI-50 Piezo Connector Series

The FI-50 series connectors are crafted from nonmagnetic stainless steel covered with six-layers of piezo-conductive carbon fiber with all metal parts tied to ground with the Floating Field Damper so any noise generated within or around the connector is shunted to ground.

The graph below illustrates the Floating Field Damper curbing noise generated between 100kHz and 1GHz:

A Guide to Differences in Metal Plating Materials

Rhodium, a member of the exclusive platinum group, is the most costly and rare precious metal. It’s extremely hard and doesn’t corrode. Most people don’t think about it but most of world’s rhodium production goes into the catalytic converters under your car! Furutech chooses rhodium plating for their highest-performance cable lines. Numerous tests with different plating and treatments reveals that durable rhodium plating provides fast, powerful, controlled bass, an open and extremely palpable midrange with detailed and transparent mid- to upper-frequencies and a smooth, nuanced wideband tonal balance. Furutech recommends rhodium as the most refined plating metal.

Gold is a dense, soft, extremely malleable metal that — in pure form – won’t oxidize in air or water. Among gold’s more practical characteristics is its resistance to corrosion – better than nickel or silver – and its superior electrical conductivity. Gold is softer than rhodium and the surface is not molecularly flat. Over time some erosion takes place and a dark build-up occurs that is, in fact, gold dust! Furutech recommends periodically disconnecting and reconnecting gold-plated connectors with all components turned off, of course. Auditioning reveals that gold plating produces a warmer, slightly more plump and romantic midrange, somewhat more powerful but less controlled mid to deep bass, with high frequencies that are either sweeter or less extended than rhodium plating. As always it depends on the connected equipment.

Silver is very malleable and slightly harder than gold. Pure silver distinguishes itself with the highest electrical and thermal conductivity and the lowest contact resistance of any metal. It tarnishes when exposed to air or water with ozone or hydrogen sulfide and that forms the familiar tarnish, silver sulfide. Silver is effective at protecting bare copper heat oxidation and boosting the conductivity of braided shielding. Silver-plated copper conductor’s sound is more detailed and open than gold but slightly less natural than rhodium. It offers a very tight bass and detailed midrange, plus extended high frequencies with a tendency towards detail rather than warmth.
Copper is another very malleable metal and its low hardness is one reason for its high electrical and thermal conductivity, the second highest among pure metals. Copper is a good conductor because there are a lot of “free electrons” that can carry current flow efficiently. These free electrons don’t remain tied with the copper atoms but instead form an electron cloud around the outside of the atom and move through the solid very quickly. Long auditioning reveals that copper plating produces a sound that resembles gold; somewhat warm mid frequencies, a big bottom end, and relatively sweet high frequencies, but not as extended as gold or especially rhodium.